Ben Shapiro is a force if he would slow his speech a bit. I think his mouth can't keep up with his brain. Never the less, allowed to speak he kills libs with logic.

In years past William F. Buckley was calm cool and collected and didn't lose many debates.

Lately I'm liking the work of Candance Owens. A black conservative that the the left just doesn't know how to deal with. Smart, articulate and composed under pressure.

So, who else you got?

Senator Ted Cruz

William F. Buckley will always set the standard, AFAIC.

Rep.Trey Gowdy, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Rand Paul, Conservative radio show host Mike Rosen (semi-retired), Larry Elder, and although I don't like listening to his rants when he often gets loud, it's hard to beat Mark Levine's arguments.

No doubt that Ben Shapiro is intelligent, but his fast staccato speech pattern is distracting and makes it difficult to listen to or comprehend his, often, valid points.

Yeah, I haven't listened to a lot of Candace Owens, but what I've heard is admirable, and I get the impression she is honing her debate and presentation skills now and will likely be a real force to reckon with in the not-to-distant-future.

A new Conservative personality being featured on Dr. Dennis Prager's show is Julie Hartman, a 21 year old Harvard college student and is actually very composed and articulate despite her young age. Like Candace Owen, she is developing her radio and debate skills and I think she shows real promise for the future. She was a former Leftist, but managed to evolve fairly quickly in life, and as a history major seems to be interested in learning from and referencing the past when shaping her arguments.

Julie Hartman

Might I add Dennis Prager.

ETA:
Would Thomas Sowell be considered a debater or just plain WISE and SAGE??

I wash't sure if you meant current (i.e. alive), but since Buckley's been mentioned, I'll say Milton Friedman. I've watched some videos of him in front of audiences and he was unflappable and very persuasive.

Ted Cruz was a national debate champ in college and non other than Alan Dershowitz said he was the best students he ever had at Harvard law. I wouldn’t want to go against him.

Tom Cotton.

quote:

Originally posted by NavyGuy:
Ben Shapiro is a force if he would slow his speech a bit.

Ben's rate of speech is actually a huge plus for me given most people bore me to tears relaying info at a rate so slow my mind wanders away.

Candace Owens is fantastic. And best of all, she's absolutely fearless when she goes on offense.

Colion Noir is pretty good when it comes to taking on anyone attacking 2A rights.

Michael Knowles is quite good. Anyone who debates him does not come away unscathed.

In fact, the whole crew at The Daily Wire are masters at debate and elucidating facts.

quote:

William F. Buckley will always set the standard, AFAIC.

Rep.Trey Gowdy, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Rand Paul

Yep. I'll have to second all of those...

quote:

since Buckley's been mentioned, I'll say Milton Friedman. I've watched some videos of him in front of audiences and he was unflappable and very persuasive.

Milton Friedman was awesome too.

Milton Friedman for sure. Definitely.

Kelly Anne Conway has a way with words...

maybe not a debater per se — but Dinesh D’Souza is an outstanding presenter. very impactful IMO.

———————-

Sarah Saunders Huckabee seemed pretty skilled & articulate under
considerable opposition

quote:

Originally posted by Sig209:
maybe not a debater per se — but Dinesh D’Souza is an outstanding presenter. very impactful IMO.

———————-

I forgot about D'Souza. He has a way of relating situations that are hard for opponents to counter.

Nowadays the meaning of 'debate' is such that the answer to your question depends almost entirely on the audience. Under the right circumstances, Nick Searcy could be unbeatable.

Of those mentioned, FWIW, I'd go with Cruz. The only skills from old-fashioned debate that carry over into today's cable news style free-for-alls is the discipline to get to the point, the coherence to to stay on point and being in touch enough with the audience to drive the point home perfectly. Most of the other people mentioned here are too addicted to the feeling that they sound erudite to really debate regardless of audience, and fascination with the sound of one's own voice will lose an audience even faster than not being able to make a coherent argument.

Ted Cruz
Ben Shapiro
Jordan Peterson

First ones that come to mind.

Who are the mental giants they would be debating? Zippy, AOC, Krugman, Lawrence O'Donnell, Oprah, Madcow? I can't think of any, but that's because I don't follow them.

Mark Levin is no slouch either.

Dinesh (speech v debate, but he's darn good), Ben S, Trey G, Ted C, and Candice O were all mentioned above and I agree with you guys. These guys if given fair time have the ability to destroy anyone in debate (it also helps they usually have facts to back them up). I'd also throw Friedman in there too, but more like Dinesh, he's skill is more oration and the ability explain complex things in simple to understand terms and examples.

I'm sure there's more I could think of but after 14.5 hr day at work, my brain hurts. I'd love to see a TV special featuring anyone of the above vs their contemporary.